Sparring Practice
by Ramgigon
Summary: FE9 - Mia searches for a sparring partner, and finds Ike, who turns out to be more than a match for her. She thinks back over what she remembers of him, and how much he's improved. Oneshot, gift fanfiction for Fire Emblem MewMew, MiaxIke.


**Author's note: Romance. Not my greatest genre, I admit, but I'll try. Please, if you choose to review, I would very much appreciate constructive criticism. Well, enough of my rants. Gift fanfiction for Fire Emblem MewMew, hope all of you enjoy it.  
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* * *

It was a calm, breezy day at the Greil Mercenary fort. The talking of the idle mercenaries was interrupted only by the chirping of the birds, shouting out their songs, and the soft _twang_ of Rolf's bow as he practiced his archery.

Unabated by the calmness, Mia burst out of the main building, restlessly fiddling with her sword handle. "It's all so peaceful..." she mused to herself. "I'd better get some practice in! If I just sit around and do nothing, I might lose my edge!" Glancing around, she grew worried - everybody was busy enjoying the day. After a satisfactory look, she dashed to the nearest person - Boyd.

"Hey Boyd. Want to go practice?" she asked, idly pulling her sword in and out of its scabbard.

"Oh, no, I'm way too busy... Uh... Cleaning my axe." he answered. "Besides, you should probably spar with somebody closer to your skill... You might just get discouraged fighting me." He added with a slight smirk.

Mia scowled at his last part, but ignored it. "Oh, fine. I'll go find somebody else..." she responded, sprinting off in no particular direction.

"Jeez, she's so high-strung..." Boyd answered, lying down in the sunlight.

----

_Ugh, where _is_ everybody... Even Oscar won't train with me today! And Ike's probably too busy... Ah, how am I supposed to find a great rival like this?_ Mia fretted, dashing along the perimeter of the fort. _It's just... Ike and Mist are the only people aside from me who can use swords around here, and they're always busy!_ As if to prove her wrong, she turned a corner to find Ike, sitting in front of a river. _... Okay, I was wrong. He's not busy._

----

Ike sat in front of the river, staring out into it. The area reminded him of his father, when he would train him. His mind wandered back to the last time Greil sparred with him, when he got knocked out cold... Waking to find Mist humming that song, the song Ike later found to be the galdr of release.

"Hey Ike! What are you doing?" Ike snapped back to reality and turned to find Mia behind him.

"Oh, hello, Mia. I was just... Thinking. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was looking for a sparring partner, but everyone is too busy... And then I saw you, and I was wondering if you could spar with me!" she responded, toying with her sword hilt.

"Um, okay. I don't have the trainers here, but..."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll get them! Thanks Ike!" she shouted, running off into the distance. Ike stared after her, shaking his head. He turned back to the water and turned his thoughts to the heron siblings he found in Serenes Forest.

----

His thoughts on the then-princess Elincia, when he found her unconcious in the forest, Ike was again startled by Mia.

"Hey boss! I brought the trainers!" she exclaimed, holding her two wooden swords in front of her. "So, you ready?"

"Yeah. I'm ready. Let's start." Ike answered, taking a trainer from Mia.

"All right!" she shouted, holding her trainer in her standard form. "You'd better be!" She charged towards her sparring partner, still in her stance. Ike held his stance, standing still. Mia launched an attack, but saw it effortlessly deflected. Expecting as much, she took the force of the deflection full-on and swung the other way, fully utilizing her momentum. To her surprise, however, Ike parried the attack with ease, and then counterattacked with a stab, which she narrowly dodged. Lost for a split second, Mia strained herself and came up with another attack plan.

Ike gripped his trainer hard. Mia was fast - he was having trouble fending her off and counterattacking safely. Her fighting style... She adopted it from his own. She always did follow him with respect for his swordsmanship, even after she dueled him once and won... He stopped his mind from wandering as he dodged an overhead swing, and managed to parry an incoming blow from the side.

_Not a single blow in _still_... I have to press even harder!_ Mia thought to herself, pushing aside Ike's swing. _He improved his overall form since that last time I beat him..._ She thought about that first time she saw him, in the old Gallian fort filled with Daein soldiers. _His fighting style was..._ Mia was ripped out of her trance by a blow to the side. She stifled a surprised shout as she was knocked onto her back. She looked up to notice Ike kneeling next to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, holding out his hand to her.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." she answered, grabbing his hand and standing up, brushing herself off.

"What were you doing? You were just standing there and not paying attention." Ike asked her.

"Oh... I was just... Thinking." Mia answered, embarrased. She fell back into her combat stance, holding her trainer. "I'm prepared this time!"

Ike blocked a blow, and remembered back at Gebal Castle, where his father had died. He thought back to afterwards, when he was talking to everybody - how Mia had responded when Ike said she didn't owe anything - about how he didn't back down in the face of danger, and how that was how a "true man" lives, which is why she followed him to this day. It was why she took note of his form, and it was why she was here today, fighting him.

_... Missed again._ Mia thought to herself, as she pulled her trainer back. _Am I losing my touch?_ She wondered, before realizing just who she was sparring with - not just her commander, but her former general. The one who led an army into the heart of Daein, and took multiple castles from them. She thought back to Gebal Castle, when Ike and his company held off the entire army until Gallian reinforcements arrived. It was the main reason why she followed him, despite not owing a thing to the company - one who goes up against such odds with courage is something that fascinated her. _It probably is just that he's great... But I still can't stop until I hit him!_ She resolved, narrowing her eyes and taking another shot at the commander. Another failed shot - and Ike counterattacked, knocking her down again. She sighed and rose to her feet again, completely flustered. "Not this time you won't..." She muttered under her breath, lunging towards Ike.

Ike stared down the purple-haired mercenary while keeping her sword back. She looked strained - Ike hadn't seen her pushed so hard since... He couldn't even remember. She was clutching the trainer with white knuckles, eyes blazing with fierce concentration. Ike dodged a flurry of blows, before swinging back at her himself.

Parrying a counter-attack, a thought struck Mia. _Is it possible that... Ike might be my rival? I mean... I've always been searching for my archrival... And now Ike is putting up such a fight..._ She dodged backwards, and jumped at Ike after his swing and attacked - and ended up locking swords with him. Outdone in a battle of pure strength, Mia was knocked to the ground, her trainer falling into the grass next to her. _Gah._ She slowly stood back up, grasping her trainer tightly.

"Are you okay?" Ike asked, helping her up again. "You look worn-out."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." she said, wiping off her dirty trainer.

"If you say so." Ike said, still looking concerned. He pulled his weapon and took a defensive stance, and Mia attacked fiercely. Although it was influenced by his, her style was completely alien to him. Her attacks flowed into one another, something his style lacked.

Mia stepped back and watched him, observing his form. _From there, he can easily parry just about any attack, and counterattack with his sword now on his other side... But then..._ Mia smiled slightly, thinking up a plan on the fly. _Let's hope this works._

Counterattacking one of her attacks, Ike was surprised to see her roll to her side and counter-counterattack him. Taken off-guard, he slowly turned to face her, only to feel the hard weapon swinging into his back and knocking him onto one knee, and then the ground.

Ike lay facefirst on the ground, jarring back memories of his last failed duel with his father. A hint of a smile appeared on his face, as he rose up to a kneel, and turned to see Mia offering him her hand. He smiled outright and took it, standing up. "That was impressive." he said, still holding her hand.

"Thanks, Commander. That was a great fight. I haven't exerted myself like that in a really long time... I hope we can fight some more soon." she responded, grinning.

"Same here. Come on, let's get back to the fort." Ike said, pulling her ahead by her hand. She followed, looking down.

"Uh, hey... Boss?" she began timidly.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering... You know how I like fighting with people that challenge me, right?" she asked.

"Uh-huh..."

"And how I'm always looking for my great archrival, right? Well... is it possible that you're my archrival, do you think? I mean, you just did better than me back there..."

"Okay, sure. What does being an archrival entail?" Ike asked, much to Mia's glee.

"Yes! All right, we need to fight regularly, we need to practice all the time so we can change between fights, we need to be worst enemies..." she trailed off, noticing Ike stop.

"Hey, um, is it necessary to be worst enemies? Because I'd rather not hate you." he asked. Mia looked confused.

"But... But rivals always hate each other, right?" she asked, flustered. "Then we'd just be like... Friendly competition!"

"Uh, I don't know. I don't know much about rivals. But... I still don't want to hate you. So can we just be friendly rivals?" Ike asked.

"... Okay then... Thanks Ike." she responded, blushing slightly. Ike stared at her for a second, and looked away again.

"Sure." he said, walking back with Mia, still holding the hand she offered to him.

"... Thanks for sparring with me." Mia said, about a minute later.

"Sure. It was a pleasure." he responded with a smile.

"Um... I'm just glad that... You care. I mean, nobody was willing to drop what they were doing, except for you." she said, looking away from Ike with a heated face.

"Well, really, I didn't stop what I was doing... I was just thinking about the past. I still could while I practiced with you." Ike responded, his face feeling hot as well.

"Really? You were thinking over the past while you fought, too?" Mia asked. "I was thinking back about you the whole time... Studying your form."

"Yeah, I was doing the same thing. I was just noticing how much you improved your style." Ike responded, smiling.

"It's improved? ... Thanks."

"Mia, you seem lost for words. It's not like you." Ike said, frowning.

"I'm fine..." she said thoughtfully. Turning along the wall into the fort, they smiled. "Bye then, Ike." she said, releasing his hand and blushing, before walking away.

"... Goodbye, Mia." Ike muttered, lost in thought, before turning and walking back inside.

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**Thanks for the read. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to leave a review, but please, give constructive criticism. Thanks again.  
... Looking back over it, I doubt you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. But it's like I think they say, one is his own biggest critic. Meh.  
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